Last month I mentioned that a pileated woodpecker lives in Schenley Park, but only in the winter. Here’s another bird that seems to do the same thing.
On sunny days this eastern screech-owl perches motionless in an unusual tree opening. He’s not there every day in winter, but he’s never there when spring comes.
Though the range maps says eastern screech-owls live in Pittsburgh year round, this individual bird probably lives in Schenley during the winter and goes somewhere else to nest.
Sorry … I’m not going to tell you exactly where he is because too much public attention will scare him off. And if you find him, please don’t publicize his location for the same reason.
(photo by Kate St. John)
p.s. In January this blog has 400-700 readers a day. That’s a lot of public attention.
I have a similar situation in my Tucson backyard. A Western Screech-Owl spends the fall & winter roosting in a nestbox in my yard. I never see it in the summer, even though range maps show they live in southern Arizona year-round. I like to think it spends summers in the nearby mountains, where the temperatures are 20-30* cooler.